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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23648269">Five times Courfeyrac told Enjolras he had a crush on Grantaire and one time he didn't have to</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_Wreck/pseuds/a_Wreck'>a_Wreck</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>busguy!au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Les Misérables - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Things, Collage, Courfeyrac Is A Little Shit, Courfeyrac being Courfeyrac, Enjolras Is Bad At Feelings, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Pining Enjolras, Stubborn Enjolras, bus guy au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:00:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,227</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23648269</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_Wreck/pseuds/a_Wreck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternatively titled the bus guy au<br/>...</p><p>“I didn’t have a crush on him, Courf” Enjolras snapped back.</p><p>“Oh, I think you did” Courfeyrac smirked. “Enjolras had a crush on a bus guy” he sing-sang.</p><p>“No” Enjolras cut in.</p><p>“Enjolras and bus guy, sitting on a tree…”</p><p>“Courf, stop!”</p><p>“Kissing!”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy, Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Misérables), Joly/Bossuet Laigle/Musichetta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>busguy!au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979725</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>151</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Five times Courfeyrac told Enjolras he had a crush on Grantaire and one time he didn't have to</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The idea of an enjoltaire countryside bus ride love story came to me this summer when I visited my wonderful friend Niamh in Ireland, where riding the bus to Derry was how everyone got anywhere. Then it merged together with another idea of mine and I finally started writing. Then life happened, I slowed down but half a year later, here I am. I finished it. (In case anyone was interested in the process.)<br/>Also, big thanks to my other <a href="https://starrylittleprinces.tumblr.com/">friend</a>, who cheered this baby on the whole time!<br/>And another big thank you goes out to the people on tumblr who got excited about this from my posts. I hope you will see it and it lives up to your expectations. :)<br/>Disclaimer: I have never been to the South of France. I tried to research some, but it's mostly my imagination and google maps<br/>The wonderful <a href="https://anagramofanakin.tumblr.com/">anagramofanakin</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>1.</p><p>Enjolras thought he had finally understood what Courfeyrac meant about just a few minutes earlier, when they were walking home from Enjolras’s first university party. Truth be told, it wasn’t the first for any of his freshman friends, but it was quite hard to coax him out of his dorm room, even though Bahorel, his roommate went out almost every night alongside with Courfeyrac and sometimes even Enjolras’s other best friend, Combeferre.</p><p>“I love the night. I mean… the <i>vibes</i>” Courfeyrac tried explain to Enjolras as they were walking home on the empty campus grounds, emphasizing the word vibes as if that should be enough for the other boy to understand him. “Can you feel it, Enjolras? It feels like you are filled with happiness and contentment. It’s like you could fly” the boy smiled, before running off, leaving his two friends behind on the pavement.</p><p>“He will be okay” Combeferre answered to Enjolras’s silent question. “He does this sometimes. He won’t get far though” and sure enough, just a few metres away, Courfeyrac collapsed into the grass, laughing.</p><p>Now, just a few minutes later as the three friends were walking up the main stairs of their dorm building Enjolras thought, he understood the feeling Courfeyrac tried to explain to him earlier, though it wasn’t so much in connection with the night time but more with the knowledge that he had just spent several hours letting lose with his best friends, his roommate, Bahorel and the quiet little poet, Jehan Prouvaire and they all had a good time, all enjoying each other’s company. The thought warmed his insides in a pleasant way that made his mouth curl into an unconscious smile.</p><p>“Are you still tired, Enjolras?” Courfeyrac turned to his friend when they reached the floor where his room was. They originally left the party before Bahorel and Jehan, because Enjolras felt tired and wanted to turn in, but Courfeyrac must have felt something shift in him, because as he considered the offer, Enjolras realised, he didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.</p><p>“Actually? No” he admitted, enjoying how Courfeyrac’s eyes lit up at the prospect.</p><p>“Then you should both come to my dorm. My roommate is out this weekend.”</p><p>“What would we do?” Combeferre mused as they followed Courfeyrac down the corridor.</p><p>“Oh, I have a few things in mind” the boy winked mischievously.</p><p> </p><p>It turned out Courfeyrac’s idea only consisted of sipping the Bailey’s that his current girlfriend had left in his minifridge a few days earlier and talking, for which Enjolras was rather thankful. He only knew his two friends for a few months and he still felt closer to them than to anyone at home. It was nice to get to know them even better.</p><p>“So, Enjolras” Courfeyrac turned to him after they had discussed everything about Combeferre’s sister’s oncoming wedding and Combeferre’s feelings on her wife. (She is nice, though a bit loud for my taste. Then again, I’m not the one marrying her.) “I always wondered, when did you realise you were gay?”</p><p>“Well, I think I was fifteen. That is when I first realized I was, you know, checking out guys or whatever. I mean it probably would have been even later if it wasn’t for that boring bus” he considered. Yes, that must be it, since he couldn’t remember any sooner encounter with boys.</p><p>“Elaborate!” Courfeyrac leaned closer, curiously.</p><p>“Well, the part of France where my family live is the kind of place where there are a lot of small towns with basically nothing in them and if you want to do anything, you have to take the bus to Montpellier. It comes once in every hour, so if you have a regular schedule, you take the same bus every week. It was the case with most people around there, most people worked in Montpellier. I was volunteering in a nursing home every Friday afternoon at the time.”</p><p>“I’m delighted to hear how fifteen years old Enjolras partied hard on his Fridays” Courfeyrac pointed out, but Enjolras continued as if he didn’t hear the jab.</p><p>“So, I always took the same bus and there was this guy, he lived in another town but on the same line. I don’t know where, because he was always on the bus before me, but he was always there. He had this dark green hoodie on all the time, like seriously, all the time. When it was winter, he just wore so many clothes under it that the layers were visible under its fabric and in the summer he just… boiled, I guess.</p><p>The whole hoodie was way too big on him and he would listen to music in a window seat and play with the seatbelt or roll a pencil between his fingers. I liked to sit on a place where I could see him, because it was either watching the same landscape, I saw every day or the old ladies who travelled with us. He had dark hair, quite unkept, but it looked good on him. Sometimes his nails were painted black and he would sit with his head thrown back on the backrest of his seat with his eyes closed, enjoying the sun, but sometimes he would pull the hood of his hoodie down his head and I could only see the ends of his hair, nothing of his face. And I remember how I was always excited to see him, even if just to know which of his trousers he was wearing that day, or if his nails were painted, if he got a new haircut. So, I think…”</p><p>“You had a crush on him” Courfeyrac jumped up triumphantly. “Your first crush was a random guy on the bus.”</p><p>“No, I didn’t have a crush on him” Enjolras protested. “I didn’t even know him.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you talk to him then?” Courfeyrac questioned, seemingly not believing that Enjolras didn’t have a crush on a stranger, which was… just ridiculous. Enjolras didn’t have random crushes.</p><p>“Why do you think? He was so much cooler than me.”</p><p>“Enjolras, honey, don’t take offense in this, but from what you told me, he was most likely a loner.”</p><p>“No, Courf, you don’t get it” Enjolras shook his head. “He had friends. In Montpellier. A bunch of guys were always waiting for him at the bus stop, like older ones too. They were probably partying every night or something” Enjolras remembered now, the feeling as he watched the guy take off with his head in a playful headlock by one of his friends, laughing, unaware of Enjolras watching them turn the corner.</p><p>“So, you never talked to him because you thought he was out of your league” Courfeyrac concluded.</p><p>“I didn’t have a crush on him, Courf” Enjolras snapped back.</p><p>“Oh, I think you did” Courfeyrac smirked. “Enjolras had a crush on a bus guy” he sing-sang.</p><p>“No” Enjolras cut in.</p><p>“Enjolras and bus guy, sitting on a tree…”</p><p>“Courf, stop!”</p><p>“Kissing!”</p><p>Courfeyrac’s impromptu singing session probably would have lasted much longer if someone didn’t thrump on the wall from the room next to theirs, enforcing the sentiment with a loud ‘Shut up!’.</p><p>“Okay, I think that’s enough guys” Combeferre smiled at them as they went back to sipping their drinks, Enjorlas quite red and Courfeyrac smirking like a cat who got the cream.</p><p>“And what happened with that bus guy?” Combeferre asked after a moment, when he could be sure, both of his friends had calmed down.</p><p>“I don’t know” Enjolras shrugged. “He just stopped coming to Montpellier one week. Or stopped coming at the time I did.”</p><p>“And that was when young Enjolras swore that he would never again have a crush on unknown guys, because…” Courfeyrac started to Enjolras’s great irritation.</p><p>“I didn’t have a crush on him, Courf!”</p><p>“Okay, okay, I’ll leave it alone. No need to send me the warning look, Combeferre.”</p><p>“Yes, you will leave it alone, because I didn’t have a crush on him.”</p><p>“Sure, sure, whatever you say.”</p><p>“You didn’t sound convincing.”</p><p>“Well, what can I do when I think…”</p><p>“Guys! Can you drop it finally?”</p><p>“Just for you, Ferre” Courfeyrac winked as he refilled his glass.</p><p>“It’s not like I will ever see him again anyway” Enjolras muttered, which was, he realised a moment too late, a fatal mistake.</p><p>“Oh, such a tragic…”</p><p>“If you are going to say love story, Courfeyrac, I swear I will dump this entire glass on your head” Enjolras held up his mostly full glass of Bailey’s, which seemed to work, because instead Courfeyrac launched himself into a story about how he and his many siblings and cousins play pranks on their grandma every year.</p><p> </p><p>2.</p><p>“You don’t even know what you’ve missed out on” Courfeyrac reminded Enjolras, totally ignoring the fact that his friend was currently on a mission to put all his appointments in his phone from his journal, his Facebook, his email and his Whatsapp. “Last week was a total blast. It should have lasted forever by all accounts. Then I wouldn’t have to be back here” Courfeyrac looked around the coffee shop just a few streets away from campus with disdain.</p><p>“I’m sure nothing happened that you didn’t tell me at least five times already” Enjolras sighed, giving up on his project for the time being and closing his journal though he allowed himself to send one last longing glance in its direction. He had learnt during his one year as Courfeyrac’s friend that when he was in a remarkably social mood, no work could be done in his company. Especially when there were no one else from their ever-growing friend group around. </p><p>“Okay, I may have told you about a lot of things, but I maintain my opinion that you should have been there.”</p><p>Enjolras didn’t dignify that sentence with much more than a grunt as he picked up his coffee to sip from it silently. He had arrived back to Paris barely two days ago to start his second year at the university and all Courfeyrac was able to talk about was the week they spent at Joly’s summer house unfortunately, without Enjolras since he couldn’t attend, because his parents had decided to choose that exact week to go on family holidays. And god forbid wanting to go somewhere else when they had already reserved everything. Sometimes he just really wished his parents would check in with him before they bought plane tickets.</p><p>“I mean, you would have loved the Dadaist poem Jehan made from the Declaration of Rights of Man. And you should have seen Bahorel crying in fear after Feuilly pranked him on the second night” Courfeyrac snickered and Enjolras rolled his eyes good naturedly. “Hey, Feuilly, I’m just telling Enjolras about the prank with the plastic spider!” Courfeyrac called over the room where Feuilly was busy cleaning the counter.</p><p>“It served him right” he winked, wiping his wet hand on his working apron.</p><p>“He still refuses to go near any spiderweb in our room. I have to take down every one of them myself” Enjolras reminded them, which earned him a chuckle from Feuilly as he took his place behind the counter again and a full laugh from Courfeyrac.</p><p>“Anyway, did I tell you how Joly woke everyone at four am to look for his lost thermometer?” Courfeyrac launched back into telling Enjolras about their week. Again.</p><p>“Yes” Enjolras answered obediently anyway. “Seven times actually if my memory is correct.”</p><p>“And how Ferre lost his contacts and I convinced him to wear glasses all the time, because he looks like a sexy nerd in them?”</p><p>“Several times. And also, I noticed the effect.”</p><p>“He looks good in them, isn’t he?”</p><p>“Yes, he does” Enjolras sighed, having had this conversation in almost every hour during the two days he had spent around Courfeyrac.</p><p>“Ah and how Joly’s friend, Grantaire, painted flowers at Bossuet’s head. I can’t wait for you to meet R. It will be absolutely hilarious” Courfeyrac continued without waiting for any answer from Enjolras.</p><p>“Yes, I know, Courf” Enjolras cut in a little sharper this time, because if there was one thing, he heard enough about during this last two days from all his friends was this Grantaire guy.</p><p>Enjolras would never have admitted it to anyone, but he was a bit worried about the appearance of Grantaire in his friend group. It was his friend group after all. He was the one, who made friends with Combeferre and Courfeyrac and he was the one who shared a dorm room with Bahorel and who first talked to Jehan on the university campus. He was the one who walked up to Feuilly to compliment him on the coffee cream arts he did for customers, and he was the one who got in a fight with drunk football players and was saved by Joly and Bossuet. For the first time in his life, he was the reason that so many amazing people had met, he had a group of people that he trusted. And the best part was that they all liked him. For who he was.</p><p>But with the appearance of Joly’s old friend, suddenly all they talked about was him and Enjolras wasn’t so sure anymore if they would still like him as much as they did if he was to not like this Grantaire guy, or worse. If Grantaire was to not like him.</p><p>“No need to be so mean” Courfeyrac continued, oblivious to Enjolras’s inner turmoil. “You will meet him tonight anyway. Ah, Combeferre, you made it!”</p><p>“Hey!” Combeferre waved at them, before taking a seat next to Enjolras.</p><p>“I’ll get you a coffee. You’re regular, right?” Courfeyrac jumped up, happy to do something, leaving the table in a hurry. As soon as his friend left Enjolras leaned his forehead against Combeferre’s shoulder, letting an exhausted little whine escape his lips.</p><p>“Courfeyrac overload?” his friend petted his hair sympathetically.</p><p>“He wouldn’t shut up about the stupid vacation with stupid Grantaire.”</p><p>“Come on now, you haven’t even met him.”</p><p>“And I’ve already heard too much about him” Enjolras grunted into his friend’s shoulder.</p><p>“Okay, we may be guilty of talking about our holiday a little too much” Combeferre amended. “But don’t worry! I’m sure something exciting will happen soon that will make everyone forget about this vacation.”</p><p>“God, I hope so” Enjolras sighed, straightening. “I’m sorry, but I can’t wait to be able to have conversations I can actually join in on.”</p><p>“Yeah, I know” Combeferre sighed affectionately.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t get why Joly withdrew his dorm application to live here” Enjolras told Bahorel as they rounded the corner to enter a dark, narrow street lined with trashcans, puddles, fallen leaves and small stairs leading up to the entrances of the tall buildings on either side.</p><p>Enjolras couldn’t picture himself entering this ally every day to get home, yet alone living in this ally. However, after the infamous Grantaire got banned from the dormitory at the end of last year thanks to some drunken incident (according to Courfeyrac) and Bossuet’s dorm applications somehow got lost in the school’s administration system, Joly decided to leave the dorms as well, so the three of them could get an apartment relatively close to campus together. Though Enjolras wouldn’t consider the distance he had just walked close. Embarrassingly, his side had already started to ache from the twenty minutes track through the city.</p><p>“Grantaire is his best friend and he dates Bossuet” Bahorel shrugged as he jogged up one of the stairs to find the appropriate buzzer. “I can’t blame the guy.”</p><p>“Hello, hello, come in!” Joly’s voice called cheerfully from the speaker. “The elevator is out of order” he added to Enjolras’s great displeasure. “The flat is on the fifth.”</p><p>“Wonderful” the boy muttered to himself as he followed Bahorel into a dark and cold stairway with one of those old stone stairs that echoed their footsteps all the way up.</p><p>“Next time I’ll carry you” Bahorel petted Enjolras on the shoulder when he finally made it to the top, panting and grabbing his side.</p><p>“Enjolras! Bahorel!” Jehan cried as they opened one of the doors that lined the empty corridor they had arrived to. “Come, or Grantaire will drink all the wine I brought.”</p><p>Enjolras let out an involuntary little growl at the mention of Grantaire, but Bahorel didn’t seem to realise or care.</p><p>“The little shit will do what?” he pushed past Enjolras to enter the flat.</p><p>“Enjolras, you made it!” Joly appeared at Jehan’s side. His face was red, possibly from the lack of air in the small, crowded flat, but a huge grin was plastered across his face. “Come in, you must finally meet Grantaire!” he grabbed Enjolras’s hand before he could get a word out and pulled him inside.</p><p>In comparison to the corridor the flat itself was both much lighter and much louder. So much so, that Enjolras had to squint for a moment before he could take in how the front door apparently opened into the kitchen, where Bahorel was currently ransacking the fridge in search of probably beer and Jehan leant comfortably against the counter, handing Enjolras a bottle of cider, which he took distractedly, trying to pry inside the living room which opened from the far corner of the kitchen, since according to the sounds, that was where most if his friends were.</p><p>“I’m sure you will get on well” Enjolras caught the end of Joly’s sentence as his friend pushed him encouragingly towards the door he was just eyeing. “Grantaire is from around Montpellier. Like you, if I remember correctly” Joly continued. “Grantaire, where are you? Come meet Enjolras!” he called and before Enjolras could take another step forward a guy had emerged from the living room.</p><p>He had dark, unruly hair that hung in front of his eyes and stuck up in the air at the same time. He looked rather unkept not only because of the hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed or combed for at least a week, but thanks to his stubble and stained shirt, which he had probably already spilt wine or some sort of liqueur on. He was clearly the kind of person Enjolras wouldn’t choose to make friends with or even spared a second glance. That was the main reason why he didn’t understand how this strange guy with his lopsided grin could look so familiar to him.</p><p>“So, you are the guy everyone was telling me about” Grantaire stepped into the kitchen, grinning brightly.</p><p>“I think that would be you” Enjolras smiled back. It felt nice that his friends had apparently talked as much about him to Grantaire as the other way around. “Enjolras” he held out a hand.</p><p>“Grantaire” the other boy took it. His handshake was short but friendly. Enjolras found he liked it.</p><p>“Hey, guys!” the front door opened behind them and Enjolras turned to find Bossuet and Feuilly with their hands full of bottles, most likely containing more alcohol. “We got the restock” Bossuet announced proudly. “Do you guys know each other?” he moved over to Enjolras and Grantaire after he dumped everything he was holding on the kitchen counter.</p><p>“We’ve just introduced ourselves?” Grantaire raised an eyebrow, clearly as clueless as Enjolras about why their friend would ask that.</p><p>“Oh, I just thought since you were both from the same place…” the boy shrugged.</p><p>“I’ve told you, mate. A lot of people are from around Montpellier” Grantaire laughed as he leapt forward and caught Bossuet in a playful headlock, steering him towards the living room. “It isn’t a village.”</p><p>Oh yes, Joly had mentioned that Grantaire was from around the same place as Enjolras. Maybe this was why he looked familiar. But where did he see him, Enjolras wondered, watching as Grantaire exited the kitchen. He was laughing at something Bossuet had said with his head tilted backwards, his dark curls falling out of his face and oh… OH!</p><p>Enjolras lost his grip on his cider bottle for a moment and almost dropped it in his hurry to get to the living room.</p><p>“Courf!” he grabbed his friend’s hand as soon as he spotted him, talking to Bahorel at the window. “We need to talk!”</p><p>“Okay, okay, what is it?” Courfeyrac laughed when they finally stopped at the corridor outside the flat. “And was it really necessary to come out here? You know that the party is inside, right?”</p><p>“I know him. Grantaire. I know him” Enjolras said, panic evident in his voice. “He’s the guy.”</p><p>“What guy?”</p><p>“The guy from Montpellier.”</p><p>“Which guy?”</p><p>“The bus guy” Enjolras gave in and used the name Courfeyrac had taken to call the guy who used to travel with him on the bus. Who was apparently Grantaire.</p><p>“The…” Courfeyrac’s eyes widened with realisation. “Oh my god, he’s your high school crush!”</p><p>“He is not my crush” Enjolras snapped irritably.</p><p>“Oh my god, you still have a crush on him, don’t you?”</p><p>“No, I didn’t have a crush on him, and I don’t have one now either” Enjolras shook his head angrily.</p><p>“This is gold” Courfeyrac laughed, not paying attention to anything Enjolras was saying anymore, so he had to grab the boy by his shoulders to make him concentrate on his words.</p><p>“I do not have a crush on him, Courf.”</p><p>“But you did. Or else you wouldn’t be panicking right now.”</p><p>“I am not panicking. I was just surprised. I didn’t think I would see him again.”</p><p>“How romantic” Courfeyrac started but Enjolras’s murderous look shut him up. “Then why don’t you go talk to him? Ask him if he remembers you.”</p><p>“Right and thank him for my sexual awakening while I’m at it, shouldn’t I?” Enjolras shook his head disapprovingly.</p><p>“Sarcasm looks good on you, my friend” Courfeyrac added. “But what do you want to do with this information if you won’t share it with Grantaire?”</p><p>“Nothing? He doesn’t have to know. Why would he have to know?” Enjolras’s eyes widened as he took in the look on Courfeyrac’s face. “Don’t you dare tell him! I only shared this with you in my momentary weakness.”</p><p>“Weakness from love” Courfeyrac interjected.</p><p>“I don’t have a crush on him, yet alone love him, Courf. I don’t know him and from what I’ve heard he doesn’t even sound like a guy I would get on well with. Do you understand?”</p><p>“Sure thing. I won’t say a word” Courfeyrac sighed. “But you will give him a chance, right?”</p><p>“A chance at what?” Enjolras asked, already dreading the answer.</p><p>“To be his friend. Invite him to the opening of our club! We need as many people as we can get anyway.”</p><p>“Why can’t you invite him?” Enjolras furrowed his brows, afraid of where this conversation might lead. It was true that he wanted to open a social justice club on campus and needed people for that but having Grantaire there filled him with uneasiness.</p><p>“I already did, and he said it wasn’t his thing.”</p><p>“Then it is settled, he doesn’t want to come” Enjolras felt something akin to relief.</p><p>“But maybe if you asked him, he would change his mind. You are our charismatic leader after all” Courfeyrac pressed with a pleading expression on his face.</p><p>“Fine” Enjolras sighed. “But you will never tell Grantaire that I know him and stop accusing me with ridiculous crushes. Deal?”</p><p>“Deal” Courfeyrac grinned but Enjolras still had the feeling he didn’t actually achieve what he hoped from their conversation.</p><p> </p><p>3.</p><p>On most days, Enjolras was content with his not so sporty physique. Or as Courfeyrac liked to refer to it, his complete lack of muscles. You didn’t need any special physical strength for the kind of things Enjolras was interested in, after all. On the other hand, in certain situations, having a modicum of stamina would have been essential to be able to help his friends better. Or at least escape their teasing, while trying to help. Because not helping was entirely out of the question. His friends gave him the best year of his life and it already seemed like they were going to make even more of their second one together. The least Enjolras could do was help out whenever he could.</p><p>Even if it meant painting Joly’s, Bossuet’s and Grantaire’s new apartment. Or at least, trying.</p><p>“Could you pass me that bucket, Enj?” Feuilly asked, distracted by Bossuet’s brush that was hanging way too close to Feuilly’s face at the moment.</p><p>“Sure” Enjolras sighed and mentally gathered all his might to lift yet another bucket full of paint. He didn’t get far though.</p><p>“I’m on it” Grantaire entered the room, still laughing at something Jehan had said in the other one and scooped the bucket up from under Enjolras’s nose to place it next to Feuilly with one graceful movement. “Need anything else?” he grinned.</p><p>“I’m fine, thank you, R” Feuilly smiled up at the boy before he started stirring the paint with practised movements.</p><p>Enjolras had to try very hard to keep the growl that wanted to escape his throat down.</p><p>“I could have done that” he said instead.</p><p>“You looked tired though” Grantaire pointed out, already on his way to the other room where the rest of their friends were still working on pushing all the furniture to the middle of the room. “You should get some fresh air maybe” he motioned towards the balcony with his head.</p><p>“I don’t smoke” Enjolras answered with something of a challenge in his voice. His friends would never judge him for not having harmful habits and if Grantaire was going to be his friend, he wouldn’t either.</p><p>“You can still take a break though” the boy turned back from the door to smirk at him and Enjolras realized he had never seen that playful glint in Grantaire’s eyes directed at him before. It felt oddly thrilling. “Stepping out for a minute shouldn’t be the privilege of the ones who have decided to ruin their lungs before they graduate” he said and before Enjolras could think of a reply, he left, leaving the other boy sitting alone on the floor, smiling to himself.</p><p>“See? I told you he’s a good guy” Feuilly called from behind him and oh, right, Feuilly and Bossuet were still in the room.</p><p>“Do you need any help?” Enjolras asked, not willing to admit that yes, he had no problem with Grantaire apart from the fact that he knew him from before, because he used to stalk him on the bus, and it was very uncomfortable to be in his presence. Thankfully, at least Grantaire didn’t seem to remember.</p><p>“Nah, we’re fine, you can take a break if you need one” Feuilly shrugged.</p><p>“Joly made us lemonade. I think they haven’t moved the fridge yet. You should get yourself some” Bossuet added absentmindedly, concentrating on painting the wall, sticking his tongue out in concentration.</p><p>Enjolras fully intended to go over to the other room and help with something, but as he looked around, he discovered that Grantaire and Bahorel had just pushed the last shelf away from the wall.</p><p>“Okay, I think it’s time to take that friend of yours up on her offer” Joly remarked as he slumped into the armchair now sitting in the middle of the room.</p><p>“Oh, but we’ve hardly even started, Jollly” Grantaire laughed, but whipped out his phone nonetheless.</p><p>“What offer?” Courfeyrac asked excitedly, probably already having conjured many juicy scenarios in his mind.</p><p>“A friend of mine at the restaurant offered to bring us some burgers if we get hungry. I think she felt guilty for not being able to help” Grantaire shrugged.</p><p>“Or she just wants someone to give him some good…” Bossuet chimed in as he entered the room.</p><p>“That’s enough, no sober person would want anything from me. I would be concerned for their wellbeing if they did” Grantaire cut him off before he could finish. “Anyway, she’s an old friend of mine and much younger than you probably imagine her to be. So, who wants some burgers?” he shouted out, effectively ending the previous discussion.</p><p>“Burgers? But those have beef in them” It took a minute for Enjolras to process the question addressed to them, probably because he was quite confused about the conversation his friends just had.</p><p>“Well, yeah they usually do. Some would say that’s basically their essence” Grantaire shrugged, too busy searching for the contact in his phone to realise how touchy the subject was for Enjolras. To be fair, he should have known, since most subjects were touchy for Enjolras.</p><p>“You do realise that if no one would eat beef it would lessen the carbon-dioxide in the air with the same effect as banning all cars would?” Enjolras tried to reason.</p><p>“Well, that’s a noble thought. Not like it’s possible. Think of an average American for example, who thinks fast food is the USA’s national cuisine” Grantaire lowered his phone to look at Enjolras properly, he had a strange glint in his eyes that Enjolras couldn’t quite place.</p><p>“But it is a lot easier to achieve than banning all cars.”</p><p>“It’s also a lot easier than just getting a new Earth, sure” Grantaire nodded. “But all of the above mentioned scenarios are impossible, so it doesn’t really count which of them is easier to achieve theoretically.”</p><p>“But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”</p><p>“Okay, let’s pretend that I do try but all the corporations and the people who are really responsible for all the carbon-dioxide in the air won’t. Do you think it will make me feel better when I’m sitting on a radioactive waste pile that hey, at least I didn’t eat beef?”</p><p>“If everyone thought that way, we would never achieve anything. And if you only wait around for others’ attitudes to change, you sure as hell won’t get any closer to solving problems.”</p><p>“But that is the thing!” Grantaire pointed at him like he had just made a remarkably good point. “Everyone thinks like me. So sadly, it doesn’t really matter that there are certain higher beings like you, Apollo.”</p><p>“People can change their mind” Enjolras argued.</p><p>“Can <i>you</i>?” Grantaire raised an eyebrow and Enjolras had never felt a bigger urge to punch somebody than right then.</p><p>“Of course I can. If someone has really good points” he ignored Courfeyrac’s snort at his side.</p><p>“Good, because you should” Grantaire nodded. “It would make your life much easier.”</p><p>“Would you really rather do nothing and let the planet we live on die?” Enjolras tried really hard to keep his voice in check.</p><p>“Sure” Grantaire nodded. “Humans are a wretched, miserable kind and don’t start with the people are inherently good bullshit I feel you are about to say, because let’s be honest, that isn’t true.”</p><p>“So, you don’t believe that humans can be good?” Enjolras snorted, trying to cover the tension the conversation was causing him. “Do you also believe climate change is a lie, maybe?”</p><p>“No, that shit is legit” Grantaire nodded. “Furthermore, I think it might just be the thing that finally kills us all.”</p><p>“Oh my god, how can you be so utterly cynical about this?” Enjolras, who couldn’t keep his anger in check any longer shouted. In fact, he didn’t stop shouting for twenty minutes straight. He probably could have continued for longer, but Grantaire’s friend – a young girl, probably around fifteen – showed up at the flat with the food the others ordered while he was too focused on shouting all his frustrations at Grantaire to notice. Grantaire, for his part, seemed to take the twenty minutes long tirade rather well. He just sat and watched Enjolras’s head go redder and redder with every sentence. Looking up at him with that amused smirk on his face that drove Enjolras up the wall if he even thought about it.</p><p>Now Enjolras was sitting at the kitchen table, eating his burger and sulking quietly.</p><p>“So” Courfeyrac sat down in the chair next to his. “The burger place Grantaire works at has many vegetarian options.”</p><p>“Apparently” Enjolras nodded drily. Even vegans, but he wasn’t going to point that out.</p><p>“Are we not going to talk about the fact that you shouted at him for half an hour and these don’t even have beef in them?” Courfeyrac prompted.</p><p>“Exactly” Enjolras deadpanned, taking another bite. “I mean, how can he say things like that? How can he talk about humanity’s doom and do nothing, when…”</p><p>“Oh, I see” Courfeyrac interrupted Enjolras’s rant in the making with ease. “It makes you frustrated that you don’t see eye to eye with him. Trust me, I know how you feel. It’s hard to have a crush on someone who makes fun of everything you do. I mean, it’s fairly normal to have glittering sneakers if you ask me and she shouldn’t call them lame just because she can’t rock them. Right?”</p><p>“Wait! I don’t have a crush on Grantaire. I thought we talked about that, Courf” Enjolras hissed.</p><p>“Combeferre isn’t around, so I can go against my word. And anyway, all I’m saying is the truth. Don’t even try to deny it. I’ve seen how red you went when he called you Apollo.”</p><p>“I was red from anger probably.”</p><p>“Frustration, I would say.”</p><p>“No, Courf! I would never have a crush on someone who thinks humans are bad and we all deserve to die” Enjolras argued.</p><p>“Now that’s just discrimination” that remark earned Courfeyrac second place on the list of people whose head Enjolras would push into his burger, right after Grantaire.</p><p>“He doesn’t even try, Courf! I didn’t have a crush on him, and I have even less of a crush on him now.”</p><p>“Well” Courfeyrac sighed. “Keep telling yourself that! But if he doesn’t even try, why do you think he works at a vegan burger place?”</p><p>With that, Enjolras was left alone with his vegan burger, forcefully thinking about anything else but Grantaire and their stupid conversation.</p><p> </p><p>4.</p><p>Enjolas came to the conclusion that he should never, ever, under any circumstances, show his feelings to Courfeyrac. Because his friend had the ability to use every emotion, he ever showed to Enjolras’s disadvantage. Or at least that was how Enjolras saw it, sitting in the back of Bahorel’s grandma’s car, which she had graciously let them borrow for their day trip, munching on some vegan gummy bears, while grumpily staring out of the window. He was stubbornly thinking of his two essays to be written, the tests coming up next month and the flyer he needed to put together for the student fair about their group to advertise it for the other students. And pointedly not listening to stupid Courfeyrac’s stupid chatter over his stupid ABBA soundtrack. </p><p>Maybe on a normal day when he woke up at six as usual, had his two cups of day starter coffees, did his weekly reading and went over his current projects before going to his lectures he would feel bad for being so grumpy and trying to ruin his friend’s mood with his silent brooding, but that day was not a normal one. </p><p>After all, they were partly doing the whole beach trip because apparently Courfeyrac had felt guilty for talking Enjolras’s ear off about their summer vacation and was silently waiting for the first warm day of spring to take all of them back to the beach. And Enjoras wanted to appreciate the gesture. Really, he wanted to. But he had so much to do for school this weekend and he would have to cram the next week so full he would barely have time to sleep to make up for it, and really, that wasn’t how he’d planned his fourth semester to start. So brooding it was, while Bahorel was driving behind the car that had Joly, Bossuet, Feuilly, Jehan and Grantaire in it, whistling along to the music offkey, Combeferre was reading <i>The Name of the Rose</i> next to him and Courfeyrac was talking to – apparently – himself.</p><p>He only looked up from his intense staring at the cars in the other lane when Courfeyrac leaned forward in his seat and started pointing out of the window excitedly.</p><p>“They are pulling over! They are pulling over!”</p><p>“I can fucking see that” Bahorel muttered as he followed Jehan’s mom’s car to the rest stop near the highway. “Jesus, how many energy drinks did you have?” he glanced at Courfeyrac warily.</p><p>“Those have no effect on me” Courfeyrac claimed, ignoring Combeferre’s loud coughs, which made Enjolras think they had more in common than he previously gave Courfeyrac credit for.</p><p>“Why did you stop? Did you run out of chips? Did someone get hurt? Oh my god! Did Bossuet faint?” Courfeyrac jumped out of the car before it even properly stopped, practically jumping up and down around his friends.</p><p>“Smoking break” Grantaire stretched, reaching towards the sky with both of his hands, making his shirt ride up, so it allowed a glimpse of the piece of skin above the waistband of his jeans and yeah, okay, Enjolras knew he worked out often and boxed with Bahorel and danced with Jehan and obviously he had seen his arms, but he wasn’t expecting him to have a fucking V-cut. He didn’t even know real life people had a V-cuts, let alone Grantaire of all people. That shouldn’t have been the case.</p><p>“He really did drink too much energy drink” Combeferre muttered, closer to Enjolras’s ear than he had expected. Bless Combeferre for not laughing at him when he startled and hit his head on the car’s window. “I suppose we will be here for a while” he added instead, nodding towards Grantaire, Jehan and Feuilly who were fumbling with their tobacco in an attempt to roll a cigarette in the surprisingly strong wind. “I guess I should go and look after Courf. He really shouldn’t buy a fifth energy drink for himself.”</p><p>“Tell him that petrol stations are overpriced and exploit the fact that people don’t have other options to buy food on the highways, which is frankly…”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, good idea” Combeferre cut him off and Enjolras would have blamed him for interrupting his speech, but Courfeyrac had already disappeared into the little shop attached to the station, so he decided to overlook it due to the circumstances.</p><p>Enjolras had fully intended to stay in the car until they got back on the road again, but after two minutes had passed and Combeferre and Courfeyrac were still nowhere to be seen and the cigarettes were still not rolled, because Bossuet decided he wanted to learn how to roll one right in the middle of a smaller windstorm, plus Enjolras tried to stretch out his legs and hit his knees on the driver seat, he decided to join the others outside.</p><p>He immediately pulled his hoodie closer around his frame as the first gust of wind caught into him. He was surprised to find that they already carried the smell of salt. They must have been closer to the sea than he had originally thought.</p><p>“No, you’re supposed to spread it out! You can’t just have all the tobacco in the end” Jehan cried out, scandalized, while Grantaire laughed with his head thrown back. He was a frankly ridiculous sight in only a tight t-shirt and a beanie with some of his black hair peeking out from under it and Enjolras shouldn’t have been thinking about all the muscle under that shirt, he really shouldn’t. He must have been more tired than he had previously realised, but with only one cup of coffee that was probably to be expected.</p><p>“How would that even work?” Feuilly asked curiously, leaning over the cigarette paper in Bossuet’s hands as if he was watching a surgery.</p><p>“Oh hey, Enjolras!” Bossuet looked up, apparently relieved to find some distraction, so he could quietly hand the skin that by then resembled a paper ball rather than a cigarette paper to Grantaire and slip back into the car to sit with Joly.</p><p>“Enjolras!” Jehan cried excitedly. “Do you want to try?”</p><p>“No” Enjolras answered quickly, not in the mood to embarrass himself. His thoughts were embarrassing enough on their own.</p><p>“Hah, Apollo wouldn’t touch something so pointless and harmful to save his life” Grantaire chuckled and Enjolras let out a relieved sigh he didn’t realise he was holding. This was familiar. He and Grantaire arguing, getting under each other’s skin. This was their routine ever since their first argument back at the beginning of the last semester and their fights just got more and more frequent since Enjolras had started his student group on campus a few weeks ago, which wasn’t surprising at all, with Grantaire putting in a snide comment after every second sentence. Arguing he could do.</p><p>“That’s okay” Bahorel threw an arm around Enjolras’s shoulder. “We’re sportsmen, aren’t we, Enj? We need our lungs.”</p><p>“Sportsman? Apollo?” Grantaire snickered as he leaned forward to lick the paper of the already rolled cigarette he was holding in his hand, to better seal it. “While he can’t even make a sprint from one of his lectures to the other?”</p><p>“Just because I leave right after a lecture is finished, because I like to have time to walk through campus at a comfortable pace, doesn’t mean I can’t sprint from any uni building to another” Enjolras shot back. He really couldn’t, but that was none of Grantaire’s business.</p><p>“Enjolras look at this!” Courfeyrac shouted as he ran through the petrol station’s parking lot, holding his phone in front of him in The Lion King style. “We are so close!” he pushed the phone in Enjolras’s face as he stopped in front of their little group, which had the Snapchat map open on it, showing that the little Courfeyrac bitmoji was in fact, close to the sea.</p><p>“Did you tell him?” Enjolras turned to the arriving Combeferre instead of acknowledging Courfeyrac’s genius observation.</p><p>“I did” Combeferre nodded. “He got really emotional.”</p><p>“I almost cried” Courfeyrac agreed. “To think I wanted to buy useless shit at such an overpriced place. Thank you for looking out for my wallet Enjolras. You are truly a good friend” the boy declared as he engulfed Enjolras in a bear hug.</p><p>“Why do I feel like Apollo’s message had less to do with saving money and more to do with capitalism?” Grantaire stage whispered, but only received a friendly pat on the back from Feuilly.</p><p>“Leave it alone, man!”</p><p> </p><p>Enjolras had to admit, he might have been too quick to judge Courfeyrac and his vacation ideas. Once they were all on the beach and the sun had decided to come out as well, Enjolras actually started to enjoy his day off. He was reading a book he had intended to pick up for months in the sand, munching on one of the cupcakes Feuilly had made, while most of his friends were splashing each other in the sea. </p><p>Enjolras tried to go in earlier, after much coaxing from Courfeyrac and Bahorel, but one experimental step into the water that was still cold from the previous weather was enough for him to decide he was better off on shore in his red swimming trunk and a t-shirt against the wind that still picked up from time to time.</p><p>Next to him, Joly was colouring an adult colouring book he got from Bossuet recently and Courfeyrac was sunbathing on his back in only his bright pink swimming shorts and his pineapple shaped sunglasses, though the sun probably wasn’t strong enough yet to give him any kind of tan. In the water, Bossuet and Bahorel were playing some kind of water wrestling game with a set of rules that were getting more and more complicated as the game progressed. Jehan was lying on an air mattress on their stomach, splashing the water in front of them distractedly, while Grantaire laid his head by Jehan’s side, letting his body float on the surface of the water and making a few lazy strokes with his legs from time to time to stop the mattress from hitting the shore. Feuilly and Combeferre were only tiny spots far out at sea by that point, probably talking and enjoying the calmness of the open water around them.</p><p>After a while Enjolras got so immersed in his book that he lost track of what his friends were doing, which meant he jumped up a bit in surprise when a dripping body threw itself down next to him on the blanket.</p><p>“Jesus, Grantaire” Joly laughed, apparently startled as well. “Don’t you dare drip water on my mandalas.”</p><p>“Noted” the boy nodded, as he reached for a towel to rub over his wet hair. The result was frankly the most ridiculous hair style Enjolras had ever seen with still damp, black locks standing in every direction possible, while some were sticking to Grantaire’s head. “Does anyone want to get some ice cream?” the boy asked as he stood up, not bothering to towel off his body as well, which was really unfair to Enjolras, who was left to stare at salty water dripping down from Grantaire’s hairy chest to his abs, over that stupid V-cut to disappear under his ridiculous swimming trunks, which had one of Schiele’s self-portraits plastered all over them.</p><p>“Yeah, why not?” Joly got up as well.</p><p>“Uhm, no thanks” Enjolras managed to get out after he realised his friends were staring at him because they waited for an answer.</p><p>“Like what you’re seeing?” Enjolras heard Courfeyrac’s suggestive voice from next to him as he watched Grantaire and Joly make their way towards the little booths further down the beach. Because of course Courfeyrac had to be there.</p><p>“You’re bi, Courfeyrac, I’m sure you liked what you saw too” Enjolras pointed out, deciding that denial wasn’t going to do him any good.</p><p>“Sure, the boy’s ripped” Courfeyrac nodded. “But I don’t see you admiring ripped boys on a daily basis.”</p><p>“Do you see me around ripped boys on a daily basis?” Enjolras shot back.</p><p>“Oh, someone’s salty today” Courfeyrac laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll chalk it up to sexual frustration.”</p><p>“To what?” Enjolras finally turned towards his friend with a terrified expression.</p><p>“Sexual frustration” Courfeyrac nodded. “You know, because of the crush and all, it must be extra hard.”</p><p>“Oh my god, don’t start it again! There is no crush.”</p><p>“Sure. So, you don’t want to just run your hands down those abs, explore his body, see what’s under that monstrosity of a swimming trunk, lick the salt off of those collar bones. Aw, look at you! You are blushing! You are so cute with a crush!”</p><p>“Of course, I’m blushing, you are saying inappropriate things, Courf. It’s not because I have a crush. Do you not remember that I can’t spend five seconds in his company without arguing?”</p><p>“Well, maybe it would help if he was shirtless all the time. I mean, that seemed to shut you up pretty easily.”</p><p>“Oh my god, I’ll murder you” Enjolras stated, just as Bahorel and Jehan was walking up to them.</p><p>“Am I hearing this right?” Bahorel grinned as he quickened his steps towards Enjolras. “Enjy wants to fight?”</p><p>“You heard him, Bahorel” Courfeyrac threw his head back dramatically. “He wants to kill me. Somebody must save me from his wrath.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, darling” Bahorel mocked a curtsy. “I’ll save you” and before Enjolras had the time to say anything, he was lifted off the ground and carried towards the sea by Bahorel. “Guys, help, he’s trying to escape!” the boy cried as Enjolras managed to process the situation and started trying to wiggle his way free. They were almost at the water, when he managed to throw himself down from Bahorel’s shoulder. He was too late though, because he fell right into Courfeyrac’s grip and in the next moment Bossuet was lifting his legs and he was thrown into the sea, accompanied by the cheering of his friends.</p><p> </p><p>5.</p><p>Enjolras had no idea how his friends managed to get anything done when all they seemed to do was interrupting him when he was doing things. Important things at that. Things that would help Les Amis grow as a student organization. But lately, it seemed like getting their student group into the pamphlet the school was going to give out to for the students was only important to Enjolras.</p><p>He was in the middle of drafting another email to the student union, listing all the reasons why their organization deserved a place in the pamphlet with the other student groups, when Joly and Bossuet barged into his room, totally uninvited.</p><p>“This is an intervention” Joly declared, while Bossuet disappeared in Enjolras’s closet from the waist upwards.</p><p>“Why is everything so red in here?” he asked.</p><p>“Why are you in there?” Enjolras shot back, glancing back and forth between Bossuet and his laptop screen, annoyed.</p><p>“You need an outfit for tonight and Courfeyrac decided that you can’t be trusted to choose one.”</p><p>“What would I need an outfit for?” Enjolras asked, when all he got was an unimpressed glare from his friends, he pressed on. “It’s not like I will be leaving this sofa tonight.”</p><p>He didn’t get any answers this time either, only even flatter stares.</p><p>“Okay, you should definitely wear this” Bossuet pulled a dark blue V-neck out of Enjolras’s closet. “With this” he held up a black flannel shirt triumphantly. “Oh, and these skinny jeans” he emerged, hands full.</p><p>“Courfeyrac was definitely overly dramatic this time” Joly remarked as he examined his boyfriend’s choice. “You do have good pieces in your wardrobe.” </p><p>Enjolras didn’t think it was worth mentioning that the entirety of said outfit was gifted to him by Courfeyrac and he never intended to wear any of it, ever.</p><p>“Where are we going?” he asked instead, already suspicious, because he tended to be suspicious whenever something seemed like the result of Courfeyarc’s meddling.</p><p>“To the Cornith” Joly shrugged as if it was obvious. “They are doing a live music night? Courfeyrac is very excited about it?” he tried, after seeing Enjolras’s clueless expression.</p><p>“Oh, that” he nodded finally. He had a vague recollection of hearing the others planning to go, but at the time he had dismissed it as something he would not take part in. Concerts in general held little appeal to him. The music was way too loud and you couldn’t talk to anyone without shouting, so all there was to do was stare at the performers and try not to stand too stiffly.</p><p>“We’re here, make way for the alcohol!” Bahorel had entered Enjolras’s room, followed by Marius, their group’s newest recruit, though he seemed more enthusiastic about being around nice people than any of their causes. Enjolras didn’t like him very much, but Courfeyrac had decided to take the boy under his wings, which meant Enjolras could do nothing to make the guy go away. He had learnt it the hard way, when he tried to complain about the freshman and Courfeyrac promptly declared that he should save his breath because he was keeping him.</p><p>“You know we can’t bring alcohol with us to the venue, right?” Bossuet asked, eyeing the two linen bags in the boys’ hands, both full of bottles.</p><p>“We can try to smuggle” Bahorel shrugged. “But most of them are for restock anyway. We had some crazy nights lately, right Enj?” he left the room to put the bottles into the kitchen cabinet they had chosen as their low-budget minibar. “Why aren’t you dressed? You can’t come in sweats” he shouted back over his shoulders at Enjolras.</p><p>“We were about to make him wear these” Joly interjected, pointing at the stack of clothes in Bossuet’s hand.</p><p>“Oh, good choice” Bahorel let out an appreciating whistle as he peered back into the room. “Good fucking choice. Now, get dressed, we have some drinking to do before we get there!”</p><p>“We should get ready soon anyway” Joly glanced at his phone, suddenly seeming a bit anxious.</p><p>“We have some important wooing to do” Bossuet added.</p><p>“But you already have a boyfriend” Marius pointed out, totally confused.</p><p>“But I want a girlfriend too” Bossuet shrugged.</p><p>“Oh, is this about that bartender you were talking about?” Enjolras remembered, pleased to see that both his friends turned a spectacular shade of pink. Sometimes he understood why Grantaire and Courfeyrac liked to tease people about these things. “It is” he smiled, satisfied.</p><p>“Well, maybe it is” Joly shrugged. “But you should be getting ready instead of feeling smug about figuring out that the girl we are talking about every day will be there” he pointed at the stack of clothes in Bossuet’s hand, trying to stay firm despite his evident embarrassment. “You are spending too much time with R” he added. “Or Courfeyrac finally got to you. I can’t decide.”</p><p>After Enjolras managed to shove all his friends out of his room, he had actually started dressing, despite his better judgement, he had decided to make a little effort for his friends. If nothing came from this evening, at least he would see Joly and Bossuet embarrass themselves.</p><p>“But seriously, why did you take Marius of all people with you to buy alcohol? He looks twelve.”</p><p>“I like seeing the surprise on the cashiers’ face when he hands over his ID” Enjolras heard Bahorel’s answer to Joly’s question as he emerged in his chosen outfit, earning himself a few whistles and an awkward clap from Marius.</p><p> </p><p>The concert was surprisingly bearable. The first performer was a young girl in flowery dress with little butterfly clips in her hair. She had introduced herself as Cosette and said she was going to play in the first 90 minutes, which – Enjolras though after she had started singing – was probably a good thing, because she wasn’t bad at all. In fact, she had a nice voice and played peaceful songs with only an acoustic guitar as accompaniment, which Enjolras found he actually enjoyed. </p><p>Enjolras spent the majority of the first concert with Jehan near the bar, talking and laughing at Joly and Bossuet who were following around a heavily tattooed girl with a messy bun and playful smile. They had met up with Feuilly on their way to the Cornith, but he and Bahorel had disappeared into the crowd as soon as the concert started, pushing a flustered Marius in front of them.</p><p>After the first hour, Courfeyrac and Combeferre had appeared as well, the latter looking tired but glad to be out with his friends and the former utterly satisfied by coaxing his friend away from the uni lab.</p><p>“Oh, good, you brought Enjy” Courfeyrac remarked. “And finally put him in some nice clothes. Where are the others?”</p><p>“Joly and Bossuet are wooing” Enjolras informed them just as the pair in question discovered the arrival of their friends and momentarily left their girl to greet them.</p><p>“Courting” Jehan interjected, without looking up from pushing around the lemons at the bottom of their now empty cup.</p><p>“And the others?” Combeferre glanced around just as Bossuet and Joly had made it to them.</p><p>“Bahorel and Feuilly are with Marius in the first row” Bossuet supplied helpfully.</p><p>“Marius likes the performer girl” Jehan added, still playing with the contents of their glass. Enjolras looked up at that, surprised to see both Joly and Bossuet nodding. He didn’t notice this development but then again, he didn’t usually pay much attention to Marius Pontmercy.</p><p>“Oh, okay, he isn’t totally ruined” Joly stage whispered to Bossuet.</p><p>“Yep, still oblivious” the other boy nodded towards Enjolras who refused to take the bait.</p><p>“Marius? With a crush?” Courfeyrac perked up instantly, ending whatever conversation Bossuet and Joly were about to start, craning his neck to find the others in the crowd. “I must see this for myself” he declared as he spotted the young, lanky boy looking up at the girl on stage with wide eyes, while Bahorel and Feuilly were swaying with their arms around each other’s necks behind him, clearly drunk. “Marius with a crush” Courfeyrac shook his head lightly as he disappeared in the crowd with Jehan at his heels. “I can’t believe this.” </p><p>Enjolras for his part was just happy that Courfeyrac finally had someone else to pester about crushes. It was enough shame in itself that just by hearing the word crush Enjolras was reminded of…</p><p>“Where’s Grantaire?” Combeferre asked and Enjolras very much hoped that he didn’t remember to ask because of Courfeyrac’s enthusiasm about crushes. </p><p>The question had occurred to Enjolras as well, though. He had been looking for the boy a few times, once even thought he had spotted him in the commotion around the door, but he must have been mistaken, because he hadn’t spotted him since then.</p><p>“I have no idea” Joly shrugged. “He said he was arriving with Eponine from work, but I haven’t seen them here yet.”</p><p>“They are probably getting side-tracked by another bar” Enjolras murmured, his enthusiasm for seeing Grantaire slowly increasing. He had been spending a lot more time with him since their week at Joly’s summer house with all their friends last August, now that Enjolras could finally be there as well. Being without the stress of school and Les Amis business talk being banned helped them deepen their friendship. And as if the universe was sensing that they were on the right track to being proper friends, they had a shared a class this semester, both having chosen <i>Ancient Greek Political Structures</i> to get some extra credits. And they regularly spent their free period after the class together. </p><p>But whenever Eponine was around, Enjolras had the constant feeling that she hated him, which was a dreadful prospect. Even if she was four years younger than Enjolras and by all rights shouldn’t be as intimidating as she was. She also always made Enjolras feel like he was doing something wrong and she had a legitimate reason to hate him, even though it was completely ridiculous. Eponine didn’t even know him.</p><p>Grantaire had finally arrived after the girl with the butterfly clips had finished performing and some trashy boy band took her place. He had one arm over Eponine’s shoulder, and it seemed like he was supporting all of her weight, because she seemed drunker than Enjolras had ever seen her. Grantaire was by no means as bad, but he was also well on his way to follow his friend to oblivion.</p><p>“I’m sorry, we’re late” he shouted over the music, his dark curls falling into his face as he leaned closer to their group. “We had to go through a bottle of vodka. Ep insisted” he tightened his grip around the girl who was already half asleep.</p><p>“She probably needs a bed” Combeferre remarked.</p><p>“Good instincts, doctor” Grantaire nodded, only half sarcastically. “I wanted to ask Bahorel to help me get her home, but you should all come and find a club or something after. I’m not liking this music” he wrinkled his nose and Enjolras had to agree. The boys were playing something that fell most probably into the heavy metal genre, though Enjolras was no expert. It included heavy bass and a lot of screaming though.</p><p>“I agree” Enjolras decided. Grantaire turned his head to look at him so quickly, the half-unconscious Eponine shifted to look up at him in confusion.</p><p>“Then let’s get the others!” Combeferre declared, probably not realising that Grantaire was in the middle of taking in Enjolras in his new outfit and his blown pupils made Enjolras feel like his body was on fire. </p><p>After they had left Joly and Bossuet behind (to wait for the bartender girl’s shift to end) and delivered Eponine to a dingy looking flat to a girl who looked about the same age as she – a few years younger even – who led her into the flat with practised movements, they ended up in a busy club. </p><p>Even though Enjolras wasn’t a big fan of large clubs with loud music and flashing lights, he was still glad they had arrived, since all they talked about during their entire walk there was the girl with butterfly clips and how she was the love of Marius’s life. Or rather they were listening to Marius talk about that and when it seemed like he was about to stop, Grantaire or Courfeyrac prompted him with something, which made the ordeal continue. That experience made Enjolras mentally take back his previous understanding for the boys’ teasing.</p><p>This was how Enjolras had found himself holed up near the bar with Feuilly, Bahorel and Combeferre at a safe distance from the table where Jehan, Courfeyrac and Grantaire were playing a drinking game, which consisted of taking a shot every time Marius sighed longingly, while he looked dreamily into the blank air. The game had evolved monumentally during the time Enjolras was paying attention to it. By the end, the trio had a drink almost every time Marius opened his mouth. Enjolras was about to express his concern for his friends to Combeferre, when Feuilly asked him about the email for the school board he was working on, which was a question deserving of his full attention.</p><p>From then on, the topic changed from Les Amis business to university work then back to Les Amis business again, general politics, volunteer organisations, gay rights, nice looking dudes, Les Amis business, strange animals, a guy who took out a giant squid for a school project, a debate about what foxes actually say and back to Les Amis business. This was how three o’clock found Enjolras in the same place he camped down at when they had arrived. His friends were changing around him from time to time, some came over to him, some left to talk to someone or dance. At one time, Joly and Bossuet had arrived with the bartender girl who introduced herself as Musichetta. </p><p>As the night progressed, less and less of Enjolras’s friends had chosen his company over the dancefloor, but Enjolras didn’t really mind. He was happy to watch his friends let loose. The sight filled his chest with a warm feeling that seeing them having fun together often caused him. Especially when he was very tipsy after accepting one too many shots that were offered to him.</p><p>He was about to call it a night and head home to let his friends dance without feeling the need to periodically check on him, when a drunk and sweaty Courfeyrac had draped himself over him from behind.</p><p>“Enjy, angel of mine, would you order me a gin and tonic, please?” he whined into his ear. “Combeferre confiscated my wallet.”</p><p>“He must have had a good reason for it” Enjolras pointed out, but he was waving down a bartender as he was saying it. Knowing Courfeyrac, he would just get a poor stranger to pay for his drink if Enjolras said no.</p><p>“You are in a good mood tonight” Courfeyrac remarked, when he was sitting on a barstool next to Enjolras with one of the gin-tonics in hand eyeing the other one in Enjolras’s hand curiously.</p><p>“Les Amis is going well, school is fine, we are having a good time, there’s no reason for me not to be in a good mood.”</p><p>“So, you haven’t checked the dancefloor in a hot second” Courfeyrac said into his cup in a tone that made Enjolras look up to see for himself what his friend was talking about.</p><p>At first glance, everything was just the way he had last seen it. Jehan was dancing with a very red Marius, next to them Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta were doing that weird thing they started a few minutes ago where two of them were kissing and the other was dancing around them. Combeferre was dancing with Feuilly and Bahorel nearby, pointedly paying very little attention to the trio. Enjolras was about to turn back to Courfeyrac and chalk the whole thing up to the current state of his friend, but then he saw what Courfeyrac meant and as predicted, his good mood started to give way to anger instead, because how dare Grantaire be pressed up against a random guy when he was out with his friends?</p><p>This night was supposed to be about having a good time with friends, not kissing handsome strangers while they were grabbing your ass. Yes, that’s why he was angry. He didn’t understand how Courfeyrac wasn’t angry about this in the first place.</p><p>“I should have a word with him” he decided and was about to slip down from his barstool when Courfeyrac grabbed his arm with a lot more precision than you would expect from a person as drunk as he was right then. Though to be fair, Enjolras might have also been a little drunker than he had let himself believe.</p><p>“Wait, Enj, no, no, no, you shouldn’t bother him. I shouldn’t have said anything to you” he added more to himself than to Enjolras.</p><p>“What? Why shouldn’t I bother him? He shouldn’t be kissing some stranger when he is out with his friends! How are you not angry about this?”</p><p>“Oh, honey, that’s not why you are angry with him.”</p><p>“Then why do you suppose?”</p><p>“Oh, it’s the” Courfeyrac leaned closer and lowered his voice as if he was telling a secret. “C-U-R… oh fuck, no. The C-R-U-S-H. The crush” he explained after seeing that Enjolras was losing the battle with his drunk brain at cracking that code.</p><p>“What? No! How many times do I have to tell you? I do not have a crush on Grantaire!”</p><p>“Oh, come on, Enjolras, I thought we are past that! Look at you, you are totally jealous! I can’t believe you still won’t admit it. You have a crush on him, and you had a crush on him six years ago. Period.”</p><p>“That is so stupid! The only reason you are saying this is because you want me to have a crush on him, so there would be more drama around you, but guess what! I don’t…”</p><p>“Hey guys” Grantaire threw himself against the bar, stopping Enjolras’s angry rant. “This is my new friend” he added, as the guy from the dancefloor showed up behind him, accompanying the word friend with a very drunk but equally self-satisfied smirk. “We were just about to…” he stopped to giggle as the boy, who hadn’t even bothered to look at Enjolras or Courfeyrac, started kissing his neck from behind “head out” he managed to finish.</p><p>“You are drunk, Grantaire” Enjolras stated flatly, trying to calm himself, not wanting to give Courfeyrac the satisfaction of seeing how much Grantaire going home with that guy bothered him and reassuring himself that being bothered by this didn’t mean anything.</p><p>“Excellent point, Apollo” Grantaire bowed his head a little, while he snatched the plastic cup from Enjolras’s hand and took a large gulp before placing it back into his still opened palm. “This is why my new friend” he chuckled again, this time at the word friend. “Will help me get home.”</p><p>“But you don’t even know him” Enjolras tried again, hoping that they were all too drunk to notice how his voice had climbed a bit higher than he would have liked it to.</p><p>“Oh, don’t worry” said the guy, leaning over Grantaire, so Enjolras could hear his stupid, honey-dipped voice better. “We are already very well acquainted” he decided to emphasize his words by giving Grantaire’s ass a slap, which had the simultaneous effect of Grantaire doing a little surprised jump then hiding his blushing face into the boy’s neck and Enjolras squeezing the plastic cup in his hand so hard that his remaining gin tonic splashed out, drenching Enjolras’s jeans and Grantaire’s shoes.</p><p>“Oh, sorry, did I startle you?” Grantaire looked at him with big, regretful eyes from his place tucked against the other guy.</p><p>“We will let you clean yourself up. Come on!” the guy nudged Grantaire, clearly getting impatient by their exchange.</p><p>“Oh, right” Grantaire nodded as if he had forgotten their plans for a moment. “Bye guys! I gotta go do… stuff” he decided after a beat, giggling as he was helped towards the door.</p><p>“This was not because…” Enjolras started, when he sensed that Courfeyrac was about to break their momentarily silence.</p><p>“Sure, you just keep telling yourself that” his friend petted Enjolras’s knees one last time before – thankfully – walking away, sparing Enjolras from his further taunting. Because he didn’t have a crush on Grantaire and he was going to defend his point even to an army of Courfeyracs, because that was the truth and he was sure of it.</p><p>He became, however, less and less sure of it as he had left the club a few minutes later and kept catching himself wondering what Grantaire and that stupid stranger might be up with alarming frequency.</p><p> </p><p>+1 </p><p>“I still don’t get the hype” Courfeyrac shrugged as they left the small artsy cinema building at the side of the campus, where they showed one of the alumnis’ new movies and started to walk towards the dorms. It was pretty low-budget Enjolras had to admit, but…</p><p>“But the scenes in Montpellier. They were captured so well, I…” Enjolras started but he was interrupted by an all too familiar loud customer at one of the bars they were walking by.</p><p>“Well, what am I hearing? Our fearless leader finally decided to give into my Apollo analogy and is talking about art” Grantaire leaned back from the tables set up on the street in front of the bar. He was wearing a light, jungle patterned shirt with the top three buttons undone, which – Enjolras’s brain supplied – was a very Courfeyrac-like outfit, but definitely looked better on Grantaire. But then again, he might have been a bit biased, who could tell at this point.</p><p>“I only said that the scenes in Montpellier were well-captured, it’s hardly talking about art” Enjolras answered, trying to stay unaffected by the fluttering of his stomach, which was inevitably brought on by Grantaire’s sudden appearance. And maybe also by the way the lights of the bar danced in the other boy’s eyes as he leaned back in his chair to look back at Enjolras. The plan was for Grataire to lose interest in whatever the triumvirate was talking about, but Enjolras’s answer didn’t disappoint Grantaire. Quite the contrary. A wide smile took over his face as he leaned even further back with his chair.</p><p>“Oh, no” Joly muttered from the other side of the table and Bossuet patted his hair to comfort him. Enjolras didn’t realise they were there the whole time, but it was probably a good sign Grantaire wasn’t spending his Friday night alone in a bar, so he wasn’t about to complain.</p><p>“You’ve seen the movie!”</p><p>“We’ve just watched it” Combeferre nodded and oh, right, Enjolras was also with friends.</p><p>“I don’t get what’s the big deal about it” Courfeyrac added, which prompted Joly to make a terrified little voice and hide his face against Bossuet’s chest.</p><p>“What’s the big deal about it?” Grantaire looked taken aback. “Courfeyrac, were you watching it? I mean the scenes in Montpellier!”</p><p>“What about them? Why does everyone keep saying the scenes in Montpellier! Nothing even happened there! The guy waited in a bus stop for like ten minutes, then walked down a street” Courfeyrac threw his hands in the air.</p><p>“We don’t get it either” Bossuet shrugged. “R is crazy passionate about it ever since we saw it like two days ago, but we thought it was just an artist thing. I mean, Jehan liked the scene where the guy ate snail with croissant.”</p><p>“But I’m not sure what’s with Enjolras” Joly added.</p><p>“He’s from Montpellier” Combeferre said like it explained everything, and it sort of did.</p><p>“What’s that have to do with it? There’re plenty of bus stops in Paris as well and it looks better here” Courfeyrac shrugged.</p><p>“It’s not about the bus stop, Courf” Grantaire groaned. </p><p>“Well, it is, but it kind of isn’t” Enjolras scratched the back of his head.</p><p>“Way to go, Apollo, you will get there. A few more sentences and you will write eloquent reviews for arthouse movies instead of that social justice blog of yours” Grantaire chuckled. “He’s right though. It was and it sort of wasn’t. I mean, the atmosphere!”</p><p>“Am I hearing this right?” Courfeyrac stage whispered to Joly and Bossuet. “Are they agreeing?” but Enjolras didn’t pay him much attention, all too excited by the fact that Grantaire was just as passionate about this as he was. Being understood by Grantaire was gratifying.</p><p>“Yeah, exactly, sprinting to the bus after a long day so you don’t wait another hour at the stop” he continued.</p><p>“Or not having enough energy to do that and just watching it leave and wait an hour” Grantaire added with a shrug.</p><p>“Oh yeah, that too.”</p><p>“It’s sort of horrifying” Bossuet said.</p><p>“No, you didn’t have those days. I bet you always ran” Grantaire shook his head, disapproving.</p><p>“No, I didn’t” Enjolras retorted, failing to hide his widening smile. “I even gave the finger to the driver a few times.”</p><p>“Apollo!” Grantaire looked like he was having the time of his life.</p><p>“Are you done getting off to your ugly bus stop?” Courfeyrac groaned. “I thought Montpellier was a nice city anyway.”</p><p>“Oh, it is” Enjolras nodded distractedly, eager to continue his chat with Grantaire.</p><p>“Then why film that ugly bus stop?”</p><p>“It’s an outer district” Enjolras said.</p><p>“That’s my childhood” Grantaire interjected at the same time.</p><p>“Exactly!” Enjolras pointed at him triumphantly. “I mean those walks along the empty streets.”</p><p>“The underground bars” Grantaire added and Enjolras found himself nodding along even though he never knew where any of those were, let alone been in one, but he had heard of them. Everyone did in that part of town.</p><p>“All the street cats.”</p><p>“Aw, I loved the street cats” Grantaire smiled. “And that woman who sold roses for two euros.”</p><p>“That four thirty bus” Enjolras added, trying very hard not to blush at Grantaire talking about street cats. In his haste to change the topic, he seemed to say the worst thing he could, though.</p><p>Grantaire inhaled sharply and accidentally let go of the table he was holding to balance himself as he was leaning back in his chair. The action caused him to fall backwards and land splayed across the sidewalk on his back.</p><p>“Oh my god, Grantaire” Joly jumped to his feet in panic.</p><p>“Are you all right?” Enjolras leaned down to take a better look at the boy.</p><p>“It was you” was all the answer he got. That, and Grantaire staring at him as if Enjolras was a ghost.</p><p>“No, it was you. No one told you to let go of the table. No one told you to lean back with the chair even” Enjolras shook his head, falling back into their familiar banter, partly to calm himself and partly because how the hell was that his fault.</p><p>“On the four thirty bus” Grantaire answered breathlessly. “It was you.”</p><p>“Oh” Enjolras could feel his face heat up.</p><p>“Well, yeah, I took that bus… wait! You remember me?”</p><p>“You remember me?” Grantaire’s eyes went even wider if that was physically possible.</p><p>Enjolras was saved from anyone hearing his stammer of an answer because Courfeyrac’s loud laughter drowned out everything else.</p><p>“Oh, he noticed you” The boy laughed, and it took a murderous look from Enjolras and a not so subtle elbow in his side by Combeferre to shut him up.</p><p>“Well, I noticed you too” Grantaire smiled up at him from where he laid on his back on the ground, momentarily making Enjolras forget how he wanted to murder Courfeyrac. “Okay, that’s not entirely true” he chuckled to himself.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“I might have thought you weren’t entirely… real” he winced at his last word and ran a hand through his hair to cover his embarrassment.</p><p>“Oh my god, that’s so Grantaire, I can’t” Enjolras heard Courfeyrac’s voice muffled by – most probably – Combeferre’s shirt, though Enjolras didn’t turn back to confirm his suspicion.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Of course, he asks…” Grantaire muttered to himself so silently Enjolras thought he might not even plan on saying that out loud. He didn’t dignify that with a response though, instead he just leaned closer to him expectantly. “Okay, first, disclaimer. I was more often than not high those days. Just know that I was on drugs” he added after seeing Enjolras’s frown, which didn’t make anything better, but Enjoras decided he was willing to let that slide for the sake of getting answers to the many many questions that he had right then.</p><p>“Okay, so when I was living in Buéges I had…” he stopped to consider his words. “Messed up mental health, you could say.”</p><p>“It was to be expected. With that homelife, it’s a miracle he had enough in himself to get up in the mornings” Joly muttered from the table pointedly, daring anyone to say something.</p><p>“Well, some days I didn’t get up” Grantaire shrugged on the ground. “But I always did on Fridays, because that day I went to Montpellier to drink way too much with the shitty friends I had at the time. I didn’t pay much attention to you on those rides, partly because I was way too high to be bothered and partly because, well… I don’t imagine you paid much attention to anyone either, so you understand.”</p><p>Enjolras pointedly ignored the wheezing sound Courfeyrac was making.</p><p>“And what happened when you stopped taking the bus?” he asked instead. Which was, again, the wrong thing to say, because Grantaire’s eyes widened again.</p><p>“You remember that I stopped coming?”</p><p>“Well… yeah” Enjolras shrugged, not seeing any way to make this less awkward.</p><p>“Oh, okay. I stopped taking the bus, because I left Buéges. I don’t know. One day I just snapped, packed a bag, took the money my dad was sending my mom sometimes to take care of me and left. I was so stupid” he laughed to himself. “I only took like a few clothes, a sketchbook, some brushes but like, no paint and a skateboard.”</p><p>“Wait, no toothbrush?” Courfeyrac asked curiously from somewhere behind Enjolras.</p><p>“I know” Joly answered, sounding faint.</p><p>“I missed a blanket more, but yeah, no toothbrush.”</p><p>“Why would you miss a blanket more than a toothbrush, I mean, that’s gross” Courfeyrac shook himself a little.</p><p>“Well…” Grantaire looked slightly embarrassed.</p><p>“You slept on the streets” Combeferre concluded. It was Enjolras’s turn to look at Grantaire in disbelief when his reaction was an alarmingly serious nod.</p><p>“Then I got a job and chose a high school to go to and met Joly and Bossuet. Anyway, can we talk about something else, please?” he asked a bit desperately.</p><p>“Yes, me” Enjolras nodded. His words only sank in when Joly, Bossuet and Courfeyrac broke into a huge laughter at the same time and if his senses weren’t betraying him, he even heard Combeferre chuckle a bit behind him.</p><p>“I understand” Grantaire smiled up at him with a playful glint in his eyes and maybe a touch of relief but that might have only been Enjolras’s imagination. “If I looked as good as you do today, I would want to talk about myself too.”</p><p>“I… I meant the bus. Me on the bus. You, thinking I wasn’t really on the bus” Enjolras specified, fighting to keep his blush in check.</p><p>“Oh, well, okay, I guess we’ve already touched on the nastier parts, so I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t know the rest. Remember, how I kind of never really cared you were there when I was on the bus?”</p><p>“Yes, I do” Enjolras answered, going for a normal tone and missing it by a mile.</p><p>“But when I wasn’t there anymore, any time I thought back, you were the only passenger I remembered. And before we met, well… forgive me, this will sound stupid, but I thought you might just be someone in my mind. You know, someone created by my brain to remind me how good of a life I had.”</p><p>“And after we met?” Enjolras asked stifling that stupid excitement that was rising in his throat.</p><p>“I realised that I wasn’t as crazy as I thought I was” Grantaire smiled up at him. “And I knew I got a new chance to admire you. With a clear mind.”</p><p>“Clearer mind” Grantaire amended after Joly started coughing rather aggressively.</p><p>“You admire me?” Enjolras asked, not really caring about the corrections at the moment.</p><p>“Well, duh…” Grantaire laughed up at him and it was so open and carefree that Enjolras couldn’t help but smile back at him.</p><p>“He made him stop frowning with like two words” Courfeyrac whispered to Combeferre in awe.</p><p>“<i>Duh</i> isn’t really a word” was Combeferre’s answer.</p><p>“I don’t anymore, though. I mean, I still look up to you” he hurried to add. “But we are kind of friends now, right?” he asked a bit desperately and all Enjolras could do was continue helplessly smiling at him and say:</p><p>“Yes, we are friends” before he stood up from where he was crouching next to Grantaire and held out a hand for him to take. “And you look great today as well” he added before turning back to Combeferre and Courfeyrac. “Well, I think we should really get going. Those store-bought cookies aren’t going to eat themselves. Bye guys!” he waved to Joly, Bossuet and the slightly dazed Grantaire before continuing his walk down the street.</p><p>“Okay, but you got to stop denying it now” Courfeyrac said as he hurried to fall in step next to him. “You have a crush on Grantaire.”</p><p>“Yes, I do” Enjolras smiled at him easily. “In fact, I’m going to ask him on a date” he added.</p><p>“A what?” Grantaire’s voice called from behind them, a touch too squeaky and great deal higher than usual. Perhaps they didn’t walk as far from their friends as Enjolras thought they did.</p><p>“A date” he turned back, trying to stay as confident as he could. There was no point in backing out of this anymore. He had spent the last two years dancing around Grantaire because it felt weird that he knew him from the past and because – though he was never going to admit that last bit to Courfeyrac – he might have been too immature to handle his own feelings in the past.</p><p>That was over though. He was well on his way to finishing university, he had wonderful friends, he was the leader of a student organization, he could ask out the hot and clever guy he liked very much. He could ask out the boy in the green hoodie. He could be a boyfriend. He could be a better boyfriend than anyone Grantaire had ever gone home with. He could do it. And more important than that, he wanted to do it. He knew he could be good for Grantaire because he wanted to be. And there were very few things Enjolras couldn’t do if he got them into his head.</p><p>“And when are you planning on asking me?” Grantaire stood in the middle of the pavement, his hair a mess, sticking up in every direction and still somehow falling in his eyes, his clothes still dirty from his time laying on the ground, his mouth half open, so thrown by Enjolras’s sudden declaration that he was even forgetting to smile that stupid grin of his.</p><p>“Do you want to go on a date with me, Grantaire?” Enjolras asked, barely hearing all his friends’ collective gasps and the throbbing of his blood in his ears. All he focused on was the playful glint that appeared in Grantaire’s eyes again.</p><p>“Okay. Tomorrow night?” the boy asked.</p><p>“How about right now? Courfeyrac is bothering me anyway” Enjolras answered, stifling that spark of uncertainty as soon as it appeared on Grantaire’s face.</p><p>“Okay, then. Come on! I know a place” Grantaire tilted his head towards the city behind him and Enjolras gladly complied, leaving the gaping Courfeyrac and the amused Combeferre behind without a word. He had good friends. They would understand.</p><p>“Seriously? You are going to admit this just like that? And then leave me here?” Courfeyrac shouted after them. Or more accurately, after Enjolras.</p><p>“Courf, if you dare to ruin this!” they heard Joly’s voice behind them as he and Grantaire walked on, both of them pointedly looking forward.</p><p>“Come on, Courf, leave it!” Combeferre added.</p><p>“Okay” they heard the boy agree. “But Enjolras, you better not forget that I was the one telling you this for three years! You hear me?” he shouted after them anyway.</p><p>“You didn’t even know me three years ago” Grantaire pointed out as they turned the corner. His smile just a touch too confident to let Enjolras believe he had no clue how that was possible.</p><p>“I have no idea what he is talking about” Enjolras answered, taking Grantaire’s hand in his as they walked further from campus, into the warm, Parisian summer night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Please leave comments and kudos, I love those!<br/>Also check out my <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/awreckfics">tumblr</a> if you want to see more. I have some head canons within this au, so there might be a post about that. There was no way to fit it all in this fic, it turned out way longer than I originally thought anyway.<br/>It turns out I wrote a lot of my little things into Courfeyrac's character in this one. Hisfeelings on the night vibes are entirely my own, I love the night! Checking where I am with the Snapchat map is also my thing as well as ordering gin and tonic in clubs.<br/>Grantaire only owning swimming trunks with art printed on them is my religion.<br/><a href="https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/738238563902622505/">This</a> is the story of the giant squid if anyone was interested.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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